Identify and retrieve material for dating purposes to better understand the chronology of the passage tombs and ancillary features located on Montpelier Hill, and to contribute towards the overall chronological understanding of megalithic tombs in Ireland.

To carry out an accessible archaeological excavation that would help to raise awareness, engage and educate the general public, particularly local schools, about the practice of archaeology, and to help to tell the story of Montpelier Hill and the Dublin Mountains.

The Results of the Hellfire Club Dig

The excavation revealed that the low horseshoe-shaped mound at the rear of the Hunting Lodge building does indeed represent the quarried remains of a Neolithic passage tomb. We identified an assemblage of artefacts consistent with the Irish passage tomb tradition, such as megalithic art, a polished stone axehead, lithics and a possible mushroom-headed bone pin. Radiocarbon dates obtained from secure contexts range in date from 3782–3377 cal BC, placing this monument in the early–middle Neolithic period. The excavation also provided physical evidence of the historically recorded quarrying and destruction of the tomb in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.